Akatsuki: Search For Immortality
by Scenic Sakura
Summary: Sakura has gained permission to explore out of the borders of the land of fire for a week after Team seven had returned from defeating Sasori and rescuing Gaara. Although Sakura comes by a strange herb that is more dangerous that she could've ever imagined, I mean, Sakura wasn't expecting anything bad to come of simply harvesting herbs... {{Characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto}}
1. Chapter 1

[ _Sakura_ ]

I stretched my arms above my head as the sun started to set. Both my elbows clicked softly before I lowered them back down to my sides.

I want to keep searching for more herbs. Tsunade allowed me to roam the border of the land of fire for one week only. As soon as that sun sets, I must return to Konohagakure. I pulled the book of known herbs out of my side pouch and flicked through the pages.

Maybe I can find some useful herbs to take back to the village with me on my route back.

I eventually came across a page that was tampered with. There seemed to be a herb just a few miles out from the fire border that was…a healing aid or something. The page is too difficult to read fully.

Returning my book to my pouch, I headed towards the written location of the herb.

The forest I was in started to become more populated with trees and it started to make me feel slightly claustrophobic.

I could smell it before I saw it. It has a very dense apple-like like scent to it. I walked towards it before bending down and examining its' exterior.

These herbs look like they've _just_ grown…to the second. I found it odd so I got the book out again to see if there were any further notes about this herb at all.

I came across a section that stated ' _Herbs do not exist in this location. Herbs don't grow back, no further threat_ ' scribbled in pencil. My curiosity piqued as I put the book away and removed a chakra infused vial.

I coated my hand with a small layer of my chakra, to protect my skin from any physical immediate dangers from the herb, before picking all the herbs and placing them in the vial. I looked at the vial and was satisfied with the amount I successfully gathered. I put the vial back into my pouch while I turned my attention back to the location I picked the herbs, although I couldn't see the stems or the herbs at all. I made sure to leave remains so that the herb could grow again.

Before I could think about the problem for too long, I sensed someone's presence. I immediately masked my chakra and hid up in one of the nearby heavily dressed trees. I felt my heart racing. I don't know why my body reacted so defensively but my instinct had told me it was for a good reason…which isn't a good sign.

A few seconds later I heard voices speaking…but I couldn't make them out just yet. They seemed to be heading in my direction as their voices started to get louder.

"I hope this is worth it. 10 years Sasori made us wait for…and if this turns out to be a joke then he's lucky he's dead" a male voice murmured. My eyes involuntarily widened. He's not talking about Sasori of the Red Sand…right?

And ten years? Are they talking about the herbs I've just taken…surely it didn't take the herb ten years to grow? Before any more thoughts could invade my mind, three cloaked males walked into my view…all wearing Akatsuki garbs. To be safe, I covered my pouch with a heavy unique chakra that was impossible to get through…unless you're a professional medic ninja.

Now was the time to start panicking…I couldn't possibly run away now, they would notice me if I ran. All I could do was kneel as still as I could until they pass the area…There's no way I could engage them in battle.

The three fast approached the area that I was just in…I guess they really were here for the herbs…but why?

"Sasori lied, that bastard." I looked closer and saw that the three Akatsuki members were Deidara, Itachi and Kisame. I subconsciously crossed my fingers and started relying on hope to get me through this situation.

"Why would he lie about something like that, Deidara?" Kisame asked as Itachi walked over to the _exact_ location the herbs were before crouching.

"They were here." Itachi's voice bored. He stood back up and started to look around the area.

"What's the plan of action?" Kisame asked. Itachi stopped looking around before turning to Kisame.

"I'll cover this area, I have a feeling that the person that took these herbs are close by, given the information Sasori told us. You can head two miles to the east and Deidara, you go to the west." Itachi ordered as they both nodded their heads and left the area.

I am in big trouble…my only strategy is to make it back into the leaf village…but that's ten minutes away if I ran at full speed.

"I'll give you one chance to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise the consequences will be dire." Itachi's voice snapped my attention back onto him.

I kept myself hidden in the tree as Itachi started to look above him. He was looking in the complete opposite direction to me…I can either throw a smoke bomb at him to disorientate him but let my presence be known…or I could quietly try to get away.

My body involuntarily froze up due to the severity of the situation. I simply couldn't bring myself to move anything.

There was a long pause of stillness…even the trees and the wind had seemed to stop in time.

My body started to relax more. I feel like Itachi is still unaware of my location.

"Nothing." Deidara said before jumping to Itachi's side. "I believe that they may have got away." Itachi looked over to Deidara and said something that I couldn't quite catch.

"Check two miles south." Itachi said out loud as Deidara nodded. Deidara darted off. Itachi started to walk away in the opposite direction to me. As soon as he was out of sight I let out a long, soft sigh.

Suddenly an arm had shot and tightened across my stomach and a hand was forced on my face with a cloth from behind me. I negated my instinct to inhale and moved my hands to perform a substitution jutsu. My jutsu didn't seem to work as the arm moved slightly upwards to push into my diaphragm. I used my hands to try and move the arm away from my stomach but it wasn't budging.

I couldn't hold my breath anymore. I deeply inhaled whatever the cloth was soaked in and I could instantly feel a sensation of numbness shoot through my body. My knees buckled. I was trying to fight for my consciousness as I was brought to the ground.

"…to our advantage." I heard deep murmurs converse but I couldn't quite make out every word that was being said. The cloth was moved away from my face. I looked up to see Itachi looking down at me. "Haruno, Sakura."

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I'm revisiting a fanfic...AGAIN! D; I want to make it more accurate :) please review


	2. Chapter 2

[ _Kakashi_ ]

I was lying down on my sofa as natural light started to invade my room. The birds weren't chirping like they would usually would at this time.

I looked up from the book I was reading as the weather instantly changed from a nice autumn breeze to a harsh oncoming storm. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. I reluctantly closed my book and stood up from my sofa to take a closer look at the weather.

The clouds were turning dark and in turn the village looked covered in a sheet of shade…This is definitely a bad omen.

I walked over to my gear to get myself changed, and as if on que, three knocks sounded on my door.

I rushed to answer the door only to see Jiraiya standing there with a dark look on his face.

"Good Evening." I said, "To what do I owe this honourable pleasure?" I continued.

Jiraiya smirked ever so slightly before placing his hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at his hand briefly before focusing my attention back onto Jiraiya's face.

"I need your help…it seems to be quite urgent." He stated finally. I raised an eyebrow as Yamato came into my view.

I turned around to close my front door after exiting my house.

"What is so urgent to need three skilled shinobi for?" I inquired, curiosity eating at me slowly. Jiraiya started to walk in the direction of the Hokage's office.

The rain soaked us almost instantly as we left the shelter of my home.

"There is reason to believe that Sakura is in some form of danger." Yamato spoke out. I looked over to him and waited for him to continue…but he didn't speak further.

"In what way? What makes you believe that?" I said impatiently. Yamato looked at me momentarily before guiltily looking away. I narrowed my eyes at him before looking over to Jiraiya.

"I've been informed by Yamato that Tsunade gave Sakura permission to roam the fire border." Jiraiya started.

"That's correct. She should be studying herbs that have been discovered and she's been given the task to collect certain herbs to return them to the villages hospital, herbs to numb pain if I recall correctly. She was given a deadline of a week, she should be back today." I responded. Jiraiya's expression seemed to darken further.

"I have gathered information that suggests that the Akatsuki are roaming the fire border…for what reason I am unsure."

"How many Akatsuki members?" I questioned, as my concern for Sakura's safety started heightening dangerously.

"I have been told three…although I was told by an unreliable source." I furrowed my eyebrows while we entered the Hokage tower.

"What kind of possibility would there be for Sakura to have an encounter with the Akatsuki? You can't be completely certain that she's in any danger." I voiced my thought aloud as Yamato coughed uncomfortably.

"I was unconfident that Sakura would _just_ be out looking for herbs…I had my suspicions that she would try to search for Sasuke after what happened a month ago. So, I planted a tracking device in one of the tight crevices on the bottom of Sakura's boot…the signal has been interrupted." Yamato murmured.

My curiosity told me to ask why he was told to put a tracking device on an unaware skilled shinobi but my brain was telling me that it was a logical thing to do…considering the current situation.

"As much of a convenience as it is to us now, I don't appreciate that you made it your personal task to spy on my former student." I stated as we walked up the stairs. Water started dripping from my hair onto my face, irritating me mildly. My mind started to fill with different scenarios of Sakura encountering the Akatsuki…three members is too much for anyone to handle alone…Sakura could be dead already. She is a good fighter…but no one I know is good enough to take on three Akatsuki members and survive.

"We're all worried about her." Jiraiya said while placing his hand on my shoulder, making me jump. "That's why I'm going to request that we get permission to roam the border to look for her, ASAP." Jiraiya attempted a smile.

Before I could respond to him, I heard Shizune speak.

"Tsunade is extremely busy right now. You will have to wait a few hours or pass your information to me." Her voice spoke in an authoritive tone.

"This is more important than whatever Lady Hokage is currently doing. This information is regarding the Akatsuki and it simply cannot wait. It must be passed onto the Hokage immediately by myself." I recognised Sai's voice before we walked around the corner.

He had two other ninja with him that I identified as specialist ANBU members. All three ninjas looked battered and bruised. Sai looked in a slight bit of a better condition than the other two, although he had a noticeable burn on his right shoulder.

Yamato started to walk ahead of us.

"You will not interrupt Tsunade at this time. She is extremely busy. Why don't you check into the hospital first? You have all clearly sustained major injuries. If you can't pass information on to me then it must not be _that_ important." Shizune arrogantly responded. The two ANBU members behind Sai started to walk in our direction to get to the hospital while Sai remained staring at Shizune blankly.

"Captian Yamato," He started while keeping his focus on Shizune. I could visibly see her shuffle under his glare. "I have extremely important intelligence regarding the Akatsuki." He looked over at Yamato who gave Shizune a firm look before looking back at Sai.

"Is it about Sakura?" He asked. My breathing stopped involuntarily, as if it had an impact on what Sai was about to say next.

"Affirmative." He replied. My heart dropped into my stomach. The hallway instantly became silent. The only sounds that were heard was the rain hitting on the building.

"Shizune, please get out of the way." Tsunade's voice had softly emerged from behind the door Shizune was guarding. Shizune looked perplexed as she walked out of the way.

Sai opened the door and walked into the room first, followed by Yamato, then Jiraiya, then myself. I left the door slightly open.

I looked at Tsunade who seemed to have been meditating, she was sitting cross legged on the ground before standing up to face Sai. There were deep blue lines decorating her eyes and forehead that were slowly fading away back to her skin colour.

"Please speak." Tsunade said while walked around her desk to sit down. I eagerly looked at Sai, waiting for what he had to say. I looked at his injuries closer. He seemed to be really hurt. To the point where he must have been knocked out. There sat a horrible bruise that framed his right eye. His nose had bled at some point and his shoulder looked somewhat dislocated. The more injuries I noticed the worse I felt about what he had to say.

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Sai bowed briefly before straightening his stance. "My squad and I were returning from the escorting mission you assigned us. Upon returning from the hidden rain village, we encountered three members of the Akatsuki on the land of fire border. To my limited knowledge, I believe them to be Itachi, Kisame and Deidara." Sai continued, my body involuntarily stiffened. "Our initial plan of action was to avoid them as my squad were exhausted from the criminal encounters we fought off during the escort mission, although one of the Akatsuki members, Deidara, was holding a woman over his shoulders. That woman was later identified as Sakura."

I looked over at Tsunade. Her face remained calm. Although I could feel a horrible aura in the air.

"I came up with a plan of action and it ended up failing. We engaged in a long fight which seemed to be working to our favour, despite the wounds we received. I actually managed to hold Sakura." Sai started to visibly shake as he clenched his fists. "I managed to get a hold of Sakura, although I couldn't get away with her." Sai paused as he looked to his left. "They had attached some form of strong explosive tag on her…They threatened to activate it if I moved any further away from them…That's when I let my guard down. My squad and I were knocked out…" Sai returned his focus to Tsunade, his eyes were watering. "Sakura was unconscious throughout this duration. Sakura wasn't in any form of bad condition, it seemed like she had no injuries on her whatsoever. The only thing about her that felt odd was the chakra I could feel surrounding her side pouch." Sai finished. I let out a quiet sigh of relief to the fact Sakura was unharmed.

"Why would the Akatsuki let all of your squad leave the fight alive?" Yamato asked before Tsunade could get a word in.

"I believe there is something that Sakura has that they want which they may not have access to. Hence why I had my concerns about her chakra barrier around her side pouch…I believe that they want us to know that they have her so that we could negotiate some form of compromise. Sakura for the pouch? It didn't seem like the kind of barrier that Sakura would have created…it was an extremely complex barrier." Sai answered. Tsunade let out a huge sigh and leaned back in her chair.

"Unfortunately, Sai, you're incorrect. Sakura created the barrier herself. I taught her barrier basics and gave her an armful of advance barrier scrolls to study on in her free time. The only person who can deactivate the barrier would be Sakura herself." Tsunade started as she started to bite down on her nail. "Although, if the Akatsuki believe that she can't deactivate it herself then we could obviously use that to our advantage…" Tsunade stood up to look over her village. "I fear that Sakura may have found something dangerous that the Akatsuki wants."

"Is it anything to do with the anonymous tip we were told all those years ago?" Jiraiya spoke. I looked over at him and studied his face. He did not look calm at all. His face was blank, although his eyes were showing quite a mixture of emotions.

"It could possibly be…I gave Sakura my personal book of herbs around the border, I did note down the location of the herb…although I was certain that it was a lie. I checked that site every month until last month for the past 10 years. Nothing was there. No sign of a growing plant, no roots of a seed. Nothing." Tsunade spoke. She turned around to face us. "If Sakura has actually found the herb that the anonymous tipper told us about…We would be…at a huge disadvantage." Tsunade's eyes were filled with absolute terror.

"I suggest that Kakashi, Yamato and I leave the village immediately to find any clues to where they have taken Sakura." Jiraiya stated firmly. Tsunade nodded while crossing her arms.

"I agree. However, I would like you to select one other Jonin to accompany you on your travel. In case you come into contact with the Akatsuki. If you need more backup then do not hesitate to contact me." Tsunade started to walk around her desk before her face slightly lit up. "In fact, Temari and Shikamaru are in the village. I'd like you to select one of them." She finished.

"Tsunade," Jiraiya said, snapping her attention to him. "You're thinking irrationally. Shikamaru would be a great asset to the team, however he's been assigned to escort Temari back to the village hidden in the sand." He continued. "If we were to suggest an additional member to our temporary squad, may I suggest N-"

"No!" Tsunade abruptly interrupted. "Naruto will not be going with you. The Akatsuki are looking for him, and if they find out that Sakura can disable the barrier herself, they will want to trade Sakura for Naruto."

"I give you my word that nothing will happen to Naruto, he will be annoyed at you if you didn't assign him to this mission."

As if on que, a loud groan was heard from outside the room.

"You cannot enter-!" Shizune shrilled, however within a few moments, Naruto had walked into the room with a small scroll. His face had black residue on it…as if he was exposed to a small explosion?

"Granny Tsunade," Naruto started while holding up a scroll. "Some white bird exploded in my face and dropped this. It says, ' _We have Sakura'_. Who has Sakura?" Naruto questioned while looking around the room. Jiraiya gave Tsunade a look. She reluctantly sighed and walked over to Naruto to take the scroll away from him.

"Jiraiya will tell you while you're travelling. For now, you are to travel as a four-man squad." Tsunade stated while she walked back to her desk. "You are to report any findings to me immediately." She continued. "Sai," Tsunade sat back down onto her chair. "Go and get yourself checked over. You and your squad did a great job. I'll be rewarding you all a bonus for your good work." Sai nodded before turning to face Naruto. I could tell that Sai was finding it difficult to look at Naruto in the eyes. He nodded at him slightly before hesitantly leaving the office. "Prepare yourselves appropriately before leaving." Tsunade ordered. I nodded at her before following Jiraiya, Yamato and Naruto out of the room.

"So…What does that note mean? What do they mean ' _have_ _Sakura'_?" Naruto asked. I left Jiraiya to explain the situation to Naruto.

I found myself thinking back to the missions that Sakura and I completed alone. She is a very capable shinobi…But I can't even begin to imagine how Sakura will react to waking up to the Akatsuki…

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 _A.N: I hope you're enjoying this fanfiction so far :) I feel that it is ever so slightly more accurate than the previous two writes of this story I've done._

 _Please feel free to leave a review and thank you for reading_


	3. Chapter 3

[ _Sakura_ ]

My brain was pounding against my head. There was a rhythmic pulsing that emitted a gradual pain that peaked in between the pulses. I couldn't sense any physical wounds on my body, but I felt like I'd just been thrown around as I found it slightly difficult to breathe and my chakra levels were very low. I attempted to open my eyes. It felt like a task and a half as my eyelids felt 10 times heavier than usual.

I could feel that I was outdoors. There were raindrops falling harshly onto my skin. There were small pebbles that were moving. Pebbles moving?

I blinked a few times before feeling my body wake up a bit. I'm being held by someone. Who am I being held by? I turned my head to the right, my hair being weighed down by the rain just hanging, and saw long, and wet, blonde hair. I am utterly confused.

"I-Ino?" I called out instinctively. I heard a deep chuckle and panic set in my heart. I remember now. I was knocked out by someone…the last thing I saw before falling unconscious was Itachi. I tried to push myself away from Deidara although my efforts were futile.

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you. You'll be wasting your efforts." Deidara responded. I used my hands to push my arms against his back to turn over my shoulder and look at where we were heading.

"What the hell do you want with me?" I questioned as I took in the scenery. I don't recognise where we are. There were a few trees scattered around a muddy field. Deidara was walking on a pebble filled path which seemed to go off into the distance.

"Just be quiet, and don't try anything stupid." He demanded while abruptly shaking his right shoulder so I'd flop back over his shoulder.

I had to bite my tongue so I didn't respond to him.

What kind of situation have I got myself into? I brought my elbows to Deidara's back and rested my head on my hands so that my head wouldn't be moving so much. I concentrated on the pebbles in hope that I would find some form of unique pebble that is associated to a certain land, but after five solid minutes of looking, nothing particularly stood out…I hope that Tsunade catches onto the fact I haven't returned to the village yet as something to be highly concerned about…I am very punctual and I hope she has taken that habbit into account.

But even if she does catch onto the fact that I've not returned…no one, even in their wildest dreams, would ever think that the Akatsuki would have anything to do with my disappearance. I was suddenly aware of my wet hair that was slapping me in the face every now and then. I carefully raised my head and picked out a few strands of hair before dropping it on the ground. I followed the pink strands as they seemed to slowly float towards the pebbles.

Suddenly, just before the strands had landed on the ground, a huge blue hand had snatched them from the air. I looked up to see Itachi and Kisame were walking behind Deidara. I gave them a blank face as Kisame put the strands of hair at the top of his weapon…Which I found odd.

"You're not smart, and we're not stupid." Kisame muttered. I glared at him. I wanted to reply to him but I'd no doubt be told to shut up again. I decided that I'd examine the two members while I was restrained from moving. Kisame had a mean look on his face. His eyes were quite intimidating. He wore a stern expression. His skin was unusually blue…Nothing about him seemed normal. He had a huge spikey sword resting on his shoulder.

I gave up trying to examine him as I moved onto Itachi. His eyes were closed…yet he was walking perfectly fine. He was significantly shorter than Kisame but Itachi is taller than I am. The hat he was wearing protected him from the rain. His face was so smooth and had no faults to it. His long black hair was gracefully floating behind him. I furrowed my eyebrows and sharpened my focus. Itachi, he is the reason that Sasuke is the way he is now. Because he murdered his entire clan, he left Sasuke alive for no other reason than to suffer with Itachi's actions.

"If looks could kill." Kisame chuckled while softly elbowing Itachi.

Itachi opened his deep red eyes and they instantly locked with mine. His expression remained in its stoic state. My glare only deepened.

Suddenly, an explosive kunai had raced past my head and exploded once it reached Itachi and Kisame, blowing Deidara forwards, causing him to let go of me. I instantly stood up and jumped back before looking over my shoulder.

I could see Kakashi, Naruto and Sai standing there. Naruto was wearing his usual smile. I smiled back at him before looking back at the Akatsuki members. Deidara seemed to be knocked out, I'm assuming from the force of the explosion and the impact his head must have hit the pebbles at.

Before I could examine the field further Itachi suddenly appeared at my side. He was heading in the direction of Naruto. Everything seemed to have slowed down dramatically, I turned around and noticed that Itachi pulled out a kunai. Kakashi and Sai didn't seem to have noticed Itachi running towards them. Naruto's eyes however showed that he was scared.

"Naruto!" I shouted. I tried my hardest to get out my own kunai but things were still running in slow time. Itachi had stabbed Naruto easily…directly in his heart. I stood in shock for a few moments before I noticed that something was a bit off…Sai's expression turned into an extremely unfamiliar frightened form. I slightly narrowed my eyes before repelling my chakra in hopes to disrupt the genjutsu I was in.

Not to my surprise, I snapped back into reality. I was still being held by Deidara and I was looking directly at Itachi, I could feel that my expression had softened for a short while.

"You'll have to do better than that, Uchiha." I spat. Itachi merely scoffed before closing his eyes again.

"I understand that you're a medic ninja." Deidara said. I decided to ignore him as I returned to resting my head on my hands. "Once we get to our last checkpoint, you will heal us." I audibly laughed.

"I'd rather die than aid the Akatsuki." I stated as I felt Deidara's grip tighten slightly.

"If you don't do what we say, we will kill one of your precious team mates…What was his name again…Short black hair, uses a pathetic attempt of what he calls 'art' to attack…." Deidara continued. I raised my head slightly and turned to look at the back of his head.

"Sai…" I muttered to myself.

"Oh, that's right, Sai."

"You're bluffing. Sai isn't here. You can't hurt him." I stated with an unsure smirk before returning to my original position.

"You wish. We actually encountered him earlier on. It was quite heart-breakingly hilarious to see his expression I must say. When he found out that he couldn't save you when we attached your body with an explosive tag. I knocked him out and forced a pound of clay into his body. I can kill him by exploding that clay, whenever I want to. But I guess that's for you to believe." Deidara continued. "In fact, I think your friends bloody nose dripped onto your arm."

I hesitantly looked over to my left arm and didn't see a thing. I turned to my right and saw a small amount of blood on my arm that was mixed with rain which travelled down it, but I also noticed that my top was stained with blood too.

"Where is he?" I growled through gritted teeth, subconsciously digging my nails into Deidara's back.

He simply chuckled, which irritated me greatly.

"You have my word that he's safe and alive." He eventually responded.

"Your word doesn't mean anything to me." I retorted, propping my body up again to look ahead of Deidara.

"Then that's a shame. I guess Sai's death will be on your head." He said while raising his left arm up. He formed his hand into a sign.

"Fine! I'll do what do say, just put your hand down." I rushed, Deidara kept his hand in place. "Please." I involuntarily blurted out. Deidara chuckled darkly before retuning his hand and arm to his side.

"Good. And just remember that I hold Sai's life in my hand the next time you want to object to doing anything." He stated while heading to a small opening in a wall that was in my sights. I sighed again before returning to my original position.

How the hell am I going to get myself out of this?

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 _A/N: Thank you for reading and feel free to leave reviews on what you'd like to read._


	4. Chapter 4

[ _Naruto_ ]

My body shook in anger as I finished packing up the rest of my gear. What the hell would the Akatsuki need Sakura for? If they kill her…I won't let any of them live.

"Naruto." I heard someone call my name. I looked up to the window above my bed to see Sai resting on the window ledge. He didn't look like he'd been to the hospital yet.

"Sai, why aren't you in the hospital?" I questioned as I threw my bag on my shoulders.

"I wanted to tell you, I did all I could to save Sakura…I wanted to apologise to you that I'm wasn't strong-" Sai started with a pathetically sad expression.

"Sai," I interrupted. "What's gotten into you? You did all you could…They're Akatsuki. I personally know how strong they are." I tried to reassure him. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." I continued. Sai had stiffened up and seemed to return to his usual, blank, self.

"I also want to tell you something that I didn't tell the Hokage." He spoke up. I raised an eyebrow before crossing my arms.

"And what would that be?" I questioned, impatiently waiting for Sai to reply.

"I had a short conversation with the Akatsuki during the fight…it seems like they have plans on keeping Sakura to themselves…They have no intentions on returning her to us." Sai responded. I un-crossed my arms and tiled my head towards him slightly.

"Why? What did they say exactly?"

"They said, and I quote ' _You can tell your Hokage whatever you wish, but no matter what you throw at us, you will never get her back. She's now property of the Akatsuki._ '"

"She's no one's property!" I interjected. I looked over to my left and my eyes happened to land on the old photo of team seven. "I am not losing Sakura too." I said before turning around to face the entrance to my house. "Thank you for telling me Sai." I said before leaving my house. I started to head towards the entrance of the leaf village and noticed Ino shouting at Choji out in the open…rain pouring down an all.

I wanted to avoid the situation although Shikamaru and Temari had noticed that I was walking near them so they walked towards me.

"Hey Naruto." Shikamaru greeted as Temari smiled at me. "What's going on with you?" He asked as a simple conversation starter.

"I'm actually on a mission to find Sakura. She's been kidnapped by the Akatsuki." I replied darkly. Shikamaru and Temari were instantly shocked to hear that.

"O-Oh." Temari started as she looked at Shikamaru awkwardly. "Shikamaru and I can help out if you needed extra people to help you search. Initially, I was supposed to head back to my village, although I've been informed that my presence there is no longer required urgently." She continued. Before I answered, Jiraiya placed his hand on my shoulder.

"That would be splendid. The more able bodies the better. Although I believe six skilled ninja are more than enough for now. No-one else needs to know about this." He answered. Shikamaru and Temari nodded in synchronisation. Jiraiya gave me a stern look before walking off.

"No need to wait any longer than necessary, we're both geared up and ready to go when you need us to." Temari said. I noticed that Ino was still arguing with Choji. I nodded at Shikamaru and Temari before leading them to the entrance to the village, where Jiraiya and Captain Yamato were waiting.

"Thank you for joining us, Temari." Captain Yamato said as soon as we were in earshot of them.

"It's not a problem, the leaf village have done so much to help the sand village out. It would be my honour to repay you if my help is welcomed." Temari answered swiftly while smiling at Captain Yamato.

"We're ready to go?" I heard Kakashi say before I saw him jump to Jiraiya's side.

"Yep." Shikamaru, Temari and I spoke.

"I'll take us to the last known position of the signal." Yamato informed before darting into the woods.

Kakashi and Jiraiya nodded at each other before darting off after him. I followed close behind. I feel somewhat safe knowing that Shikamaru is with us. He's incredibly logical and we might just need that for this…

We started to head into the woods, it was getting increasing harder to see Kakashi in front of me. Rain was heavily falling at a ridiculously fast speed.

"Ugh, I can't see anything!" I complained before I messed up on my footing and slipped on a tree branch, Temari had sprinted to steady my balance before we both continued running. "Thank you." I spoke. Temari nodded and smiled before falling back to run with Shikamaru.

I started to think about what Sai had told me…Is it really true? Are they really planning on keeping her…The Sakura I know wouldn't want to stay there. Would she try to run away from them…? Would they kill her if she tries to escape? Negative questions and scenarios entered my head quicker than I could rationalise anything.

"Naruto." Kakashi said, making my focus turn to him, he was slowing his pace down to stop at where Yamato was standing.

All of us slowly gathered around Yamato. He swiftly weaved a few hand signs before a huge log cabin formed around us.

"As much as we want to find out where Sakura is…This weather is horrendous and it will cause us more trouble than good if we were to continue searching for Sakura in these conditions." Captain Yamato stated before placing his backpack on the ground.

"That's a good idea." Shikamaru bored in agreement before holding his hand out to Temari, who swiftly removed her side bag and gave it to Shikamaru to set to the side with his own backpack. I looked over to Kakashi and he was already sitting on the ground next to Jiraiya. I refrained from complaining as a dumped my backpack on the ground near the corner of the cabin before sitting next to it.

"What the hell does the Akatsuki want from Sakura anyway?" I complained out loud, despite knowing the basic answer.

"There was a tip I received from an anonymous ninja over 10 years ago," Jiraiya started as he crossed his arms and legs. "It included a special kind of herb that could be found near the fire border. According to my source, the herb only grows once every ten years, to the dot…a herb that causes extremely fast healing process if the herb is to be used correctly…the method wasn't disclosed with me. The herb can practically provide immortality to anyone who ingests it correctly." Jiraiya continued before closing his eyes and scrunching up his face slightly. "Or so I've heard."

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked over to Kakashi.

"Do you think the Akatsuki know about the properties of the herb?" Kakashi spoke before I could ask him a question.

"I can't say for sure…But my guess is that they have a vague idea. I'm certain the Akatsuki have a list of all skilful medical ninja and their students…And Sakura being listed as a student under a legendary Sanin would make her a valuable asset to the Akatsuki. Hence why they took Sakura as well as her sealed pouch." Jiraiya sighed before he uncrossed his arms and opened his eyes. "They will most likely dispose of Sakura as soon as she creates the elixir…" I looked over to Shikamaru in hopes that he had some sort of plan.

"Sorry Naruto, I've got nothing at the moment. There is little to go by. The only notable concern I have is that this weather is perfect to cover up any tracks the Akatsuki make." He stated. I frowned and lied on my back.

"Ugh! This is useless!" I sighed angrily. I threw my arms behind my head and closed my eyes.

"Sakura is a smart kunoichi," Temari spoke out. I opened my eyes and looked in her direction. "Believe it or not, she's extremely good at leaving trails." She tried to reassure me. I looked up at the ceiling before narrowing my eyes.

I'm going to have to make sure that I look out for any trails that Sakura has left behind.


	5. Chapter 5

[ _Sakura_ ]

We headed into an opening that provided us with a sufficient amount of cover from the weather. I felt Deidara bend down slightly to set me on the ground. Part of me instantly wanted to beat the living crap out of him but my rational mind took over. There is no way in hell that I could single-handedly take on three members of the Akatsuki and escape alive.

Deidara didn't even look at me before he filled up half of the opening from the ground upwards with clay.

My whole body stiffened under Itachi's intense glare. I looked straight back into his eyes before narrowing my own.

"If you have a problem, I suggest we take it outside so I can beat the shit out of you." I spoke aloud. Itachi merely looked at me for a few more moments before walking to the corner of the cave to sit down. Kisame headed to a space next to Itachi and sat down.

"Heal me." Deidara demanded while removing his Akatsuki Garb. He walked me over to a conveniently elevated rock that Deidara and I could sit on for comfortability purposes.

I noticed that he has a lot of bite marks. I smirked as I realised they were probably from Sai's Jutsu.

"You're going to have to remove your shirt." I informed him. He didn't hesitate to remove his shirt. I carefully removed a bottle of water and a hand towel from my backpack. Firstly, I soaked the cloth in water and cleaned up any excess blood, the white cloth soon was littered with red splotches. I then moved my hands over his wounds and exerted my chakra to examine the wounds for any signs of infections. After I confirmed that Deidara had no infections, I started the healing process.

It took me five minutes to completely heal his wounds. This felt so wrong, although if I wanted to keep Sai alive, I had to follow their every order…

"You're done." I said as I reached into my pocket to remove a soldier pill. I was about to pop it into my mouth but Deidara had grabbed onto my wrist. "This is to replenish my chakra so I can heal Kisame and Itachi." I stated. Deidara kept a firm grip on my wrist until I felt something move against my wrist. As weird as it sounded, it felt like a mouth.

"Is that a mouth?" I looked over at Deidara's other hand. He smirked slightly before letting go of my wrist.

Kisame swapped places with Deidara.

"I only have a knife wound on my arm." Kisame informed me as he lifted up the sleeve on his left arm.

"It's heavily infected." I said out loud as I examined his wound further. "Luckily for you, it's nothing but a simple poison that can be extracted easily from your body. Although the pain of the extraction is excruciating." I continued, hoping that he would chicken out.

"Just get on with it." He demanded. I narrowed my eyes at him and poured a small pool of water on my left hand. Without hesitation, I forced the water into the wound and spread the water out to collect the small amount that had invaded his body before abruptly pulling the water and green coloured poison out of his system. Kisame barely flinched in pain which irritated me slightly.

"All done." I stated obviously while subtly dumping the water on the ground. Kisame walked over to Deidara and swapped placed with Itachi.

He stared at me with a blank expression before sitting down and facing my direction.

"My left leg is broken, three of my ribs are broken." He stated bluntly. I almost scoffed in disbelief before he removed his garb to show a nasty looking bruise on the right side of his chest. He then rolled up his trouser leg before waiting for me to heal him.

I hesitantly hovered my hands over his legs and examined his leg further with the help of my chakra. His leg was pretty messed up…How the hell could he walk on this without limping?

More questions filled my mind as I started to heal the muscles that had been torn, which took a huge effort of chakra.

I'd finally finished healing his leg after ten minutes of using my chakra to aid me in repairing muscles and healing bruises.

I reluctantly had to shuffle towards Itachi to reach and tend to his rib fractures appropriately. I started exerting my chakra and focused on healing the bone formation. I could feel Itachi's heartbeat pounding as I was focusing on healing him, which put me off slightly. His heartbeat started to beat at a slightly faster pace as I moved my hand upwards, which was understandable, he would be feeling quite a bit of pain as the bones moved back to their original place. He moved his head down to look at what I was doing. Some of his long black hair had brushed past his shoulder and tickled my hands. I promptly used my right hand to stroke the hair behind his ear so it wouldn't distract me any further.

It didn't take too long from there to heal the bruises and look up at Itachi. I guess he'd been staring at me throughout the duration of the process…in case I didn't do the job correctly…

"Done." I bored while shuffling away from Itachi. He stood up and joined Deidara and Kisame. I laid back and closed my eyes for a brief moment. This situation is so out of the blue. I felt an uncomfortable object sitting under my back, so I arched it and removed a bottle from there before setting it on the ground.

"What do you want from me?" I attempted, not even bothering to look at the Akatsuki. There were a few moments of silence before Deidara spoke up.

"You took something that belongs to us, and now you're paying the price, a life for a life..." He responded vaguely, I can only assume he's talking about me killing Sasori, his former partner. I wonder what's so special about the herb that the Akatsuki would keep me alive for. I sighed quietly, is keeping the herb and finding out the properties of it really worth this? I looked up at the ceiling.

"What if I gave you what you wanted. Would you let me go?" I attempted. I heard a few chuckles and instantly felt stupid for asking the question.

"Sure, we'll let you go if you give us what is ours." Kisame chortled. I decided to ignore him and turned to my side.

This rock was uncomfortable.

"We'll head out in twenty minutes." I heard Itachi speak, I then heard a few sounds of agreement. "We should arrive at the base by noon." He continued. I frowned and my body involuntarily shivered. Seeing three Akatsuki members is intimidating enough…let alone the entire organisation.


	6. Chapter 6

[ _Temari_ ]

I looked out of the window and noticed that the rain was clearing up. I smiled slightly as sun started to warm the cabin.

"Break's over." Yamato stated as he stood up. I stood up also and was promptly met with Shikamaru holding my bag out to me. I smiled at him before taking my bag from him. Shikamaru is such a gentleman…I wonder if he shares the same feelings as I do…or whether he's just being kind to me to keep the alliance between our villages.

"If the Akatsuki are still on the move, they could be traveling by different means. So that they can't be tracked." Shikamaru spoke while Yamato weaved a few hand signs to collapse the cabin.

The surroundings were still damp, however the sun was shining down on the woods brilliantly.

"How the hell are we going to track them if it's just rained then?" Naruto spoke up. I looked over at him and he wore an unfamiliar expression…it kinda broke my heart to see him look so down…especially seeing as he helped Gaara find his light.

"We'll split into three teams and head into different directions." Jiraiya stated while rummaging through his bag. He pulled out three headsets that looked really high-tech. "Shikamaru. You'll go with Yamato." He nodded, I felt slightly sad to be separated from him. Jiraiya handed a headset to Yamato. "You're with me, Naruto." He continued as he attached a headset to himself. "You and Temari." He finished while giving Kakashi the headset. "I'm going South-east, you head South-west, and you guys head South." Jiraiya stated while pointing at each of us in turn.

We all made noises of agreement before darting off in our assigned directions.

I kept up with Kakashi easily. As the scenery passed us I kept an eye out for any sign of Sakura's presence, but I couldn't see a thing. Are the Akatsuki that careful to keep their tracks hidden?

The terrain seemed to change immediately, to a huge muddy clearing with a long pebble path.

"I feel like this is the right way." I said as a sinking feeling invaded my body involuntarily…I don't know how, but I'm certain I have a sixth sense that allows me to track well. I started to run ahead of Kakashi. He allowed me to lead for five minutes before I stopped suddenly.

I looked around before noticing an opening in the side of a wall in the distance, I looked from the entrance to the path and noticed three sets of foot prints that were decorating the mud in front of us. I looked at Kakashi.

"I recommend we keep our guards up." He commented, I nodded before running to the opening. The closer I got to it, the more I saw a white cover that covered the bottom half of the cave. I swiftly hurdled over the white rock like surface and quickly looked around the cave.

Nothing was in here. My shoulders slumped as Kakashi entered the cave.

"I was certain I'd find something here." I thought out loud. I walked over to an elevated rock and saw water resting on the surface. I looked at the rock closer before smiling. I noticed that there was a small section of the rock that had a few pink strands stuck to it with water. "Sakura must have been here!" I said while carefully picking up the strands of hair.

I turned my head to the left and noticed Kakashi crouching next to me.

"What is it?" I questioned as I kneeled with him. He pointed at some green moss like substance on the rock.

"This is poison." He stated while scratching his head. "Mixed with water…" He continued before standing up. I took a closer look at the poison and noticed that it took on a weird shape.

"Doesn't that symbol look familiar?" I questioned as I stood up. I looked over at Kakashi who nodded.

"I believe it's the cloud symbol of the Akatsuki." He answered before crossing his arms. "Sakura must be panicking…I believe she's unaware of us knowing what we know…She believes she's alone and no-one would figure out who took her." His voice grew more depressed with each word that was spoken. I frowned.

"Well then, it will be a nice surprise for her when we find her. But for now, given the warmth of this cave and the amount of water that's been left here, they must have left recently." I noted.

Kakashi nodded before he raised his hand in a simple formation.

A few seconds later, his dog, materialised out of nowhere.

"Hey Kakashi, what do you need me to do?" He spoke, Kakashi looked over to me and signalled the dog to walk to me. I bent down to present Sakura's hair to him while he took a few seconds to sniff what I was holding. I hesitantly stood up as the dog started sniffing the air and pacing around.

"I'm going to be honest and say that I can't smell Sakura anywhere but in this cave." The dog said. Kakashi suddenly weaved a few hand signs before aiming lightening at the entrance. The white substance seemed to react to the lightening and it started to gloop up and melt to the ground.

"Deidara…They're still here…" Kakashi said before looking down at his dog. "Thank you, Pukkun." He dismissed his dog with a cloud of smoke. There were a few moments of silence. Kakashi slowly reached up to start a dialogue with Jiraiya and Yamato.

My eyes darted back to the green poison and noticed that there was a faded green arrow pointing behind us.

"We've-" Kakashi started as I spun on the spot to face behind us. To my surprise there stood three Akatsuki and Sakura who was hung over the black-haired guys shoulder.

"Kakashi!" I shouted as I prepared my weapon. Kakashi jumped out of the way as the blue-skinned man struck for him. He darted out of the cave, leaving me in the small cave with the other two Akatsuki members. I internally panicked as Itachi darted out the cave with Sakura. I instinctively started to follow him.

"I don't think so." The blonde guy said as he threw some white birds in my direction…The birds seem to have been made of the same material as the white rock at the entrance was. Before I could react, the birds exploded in my face, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the cave.

I coughed through the smoke and jumped out of the cave. I looked over at Kakashi and he was engaged in an intense fight with the blue-skinned man. Itachi had disappeared from my sight… I cussed to myself before snapping my focus back on the blonde-haired man.

"You won't leave here alive." He threatened while throwing more birds in my direction. I simply fanned my weapon to produce a strong gust of wind to blow the birds back in his direction.

He darted to the right, avoiding the birds explosions, and produced a big bird before jumping onto it and flying above me. He dropped some white clay in my direction. I moved my fan to blow them back but it didn't work his time. I widened my eyes involuntarily before darting away from the bombs.

They exploded and forced my body to land harshly on the mud. Great, the right side of my body was caked in a layer of mud. Before I could fully stand, the man jumped off his bird and sped up to me before rearing his fist to punch me. I couldn't dodge the attack as the mud beneath me was slippery. I braced myself for the impact and was horribly surprised as my body flew back quite a distance. Before my body hit the ground again, I dug my weapon in the ground to help me stand on my feet.

The guy sped towards me, throwing birds ahead of him to reach me before he did. I decided that I'd endure the burns from the birds as I swung my weapon behind me before swinging my weapon at his face. He blocked my attack with his arm but I heard a few cracks. Smirking at my hit, the man lifted his leg and kicked my side.

I didn't see that coming…I fell harshly on the ground before struggling for breath.

I started panicking as the man slowly towered over me.

"It's a shame you're so weak, I thought this would be fun." He chuckled as I rolled my body and flailed my right leg out to trip him over. Surprisingly it worked and he fell on his side. I struggled to stand as he got himself up…Am I really going to die here?

I looked over at Kakashi and he looked pretty beat up and worn out…These Akatsuki…they're ridiculously strong.

Just as the blonde-haired man tried attacking me I subconsciously exerted chakra in my hand and sliced at him. He grunted and jumped back. I managed to slice through his cheek as I saw quite an amount of blood fall from the cut instantly. I internally thanked Sakura for teaching me a few close combat tricks that my body could remember as a reflex.

I was still struggling to breathe properly as the man's bird that was circling around us in the sky started to plummet down in my direction at a scarily fast speed.

I jumped out the way but it was useless. The bird created a huge explosion that burned my left arm, leg and the left side of my face. I let out a scream as my skin burned. My body harshly slapped down on the mud. I saw Kakashi try to run to my aid but the guy he was fighting had prevented him from running towards me.

I tried moving my body but I was weak, the mud was hard to move through.

The blonde-haired man towered over me. The blood on his cheek dripped down onto my forehead, which I found gross.

"Now, it's over." He said darkly with a smirk on his face. I closed my eyes tightly to brace myself for what he was about to do to execute me. I regret not doing so many things. All sorts of thoughts started rushing through my head.

A few moments passed and I felt nothing. Am I dead already?

I carefully opened my eyes to see that the man was frozen in place. His hair slowly brushing past his shoulders to hang in front of him.

He looked confused.

"Kisame!" He growled through gritted teeth. I looked to my right and saw that Kakashi had just been hit with the blue guy's sword. Kakashi fell unconscious as he hit the ground a few metres from where I was.

"What?" He responded before jumping to his side. Before he could react, a huge block of wood struck the man at an incredible speed. Making him lose his balance.

My eyes lit up with joy as I looked over to my left. It was Shikamaru and Yamato…I won't die. I was about to smile at Shikamaru but he'd suddenly lost composure. He had deactivated his shadow possession jutsu and started to run towards me…what? I looked back to the two men and saw that the blue haired man was aiming on stabbing me with his ridiculously wide sword.

I braced myself before a big chunk of wood hit the side of the blonde man's head. He bumped into his partner which made his attack miss my stomach and instead taking out a chunk from my side causing me to scream in pain.

His sword felt like extremely rough sandpaper.

"They'll be more soon, we should leave." The blue man said. His partner nodded and the two men vanished from my view.

"Temari, are you okay?" I heard Shikamaru say as he knelt to my height. I smiled at him and flinched at the pain my burn gave me.

"Never been better." I joked. He didn't smile. His eyes were looking up and down my body.

"This is going to hurt." He prepared me as he picked up my body without hesitation. His arms were completely covered in mud.

"What happened here?" I heard Jiraiya's voice speak before Shikamaru turned me around to face Jiraiya.

"Uh, we ran into the three Akatsuki members…the one with black hair ran off with Sakura. I tried to follow him but the blonde one attacked me…Kakashi dealt with the other guy…he's knocked out, they've just ran off somewhere." I looked over to Kakashi. I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go after them!" Naruto said. I looked over to him and saw his expression was still dark. I involuntarily let out a grunt of pain as my burns starting to sting.

"Shikamaru, hand Temari to Yamato. We have to chase them now, before they get away." Jiraiya spoke, I frowned at Jiraiya before looking back up at Shikamaru. He kept his eyes ahead as he walked over to Yamato. He swiftly handed me over before briefly looking down at me. He turned around to walk back to Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Be safe, Shikamaru." Was all I could muster, I felt my face heat up as I frowned at Shikamaru.

"I will return to you." He replied before he lead the three of them in the direction the Akatsuki ran off in.

Why am I so frigid when it comes to telling Shikamaru my true feelings to him?

"Ugh." I quietly complained. I really hope he comes back safe…

* * *

 _Thank you for reading, I'll update soon!_


	7. Chapter 7

[ _Kisame_ ]

Kakashi was quite a tough opponent…I must admit. Unfortunately for him, he's not as strong as I am.

"We're being followed." Deidara spoke out loud. I looked over at him and scoffed.

"And? They won't get past the barrier." I stated. Deidara tutted. It didn't take long to catch up with Itachi.

We all passed through the barrier with ease.

"I'm pissed off that I didn't get to kill her." Deidara complained as we started to walk towards the hideout.

"Next time, take more notice of your surroundings. I doubt she's got long to live anyway. I'm sure that my sword ripped through her stomach." I replied. The rest of the journey was silent.

Sakura had stirred about before looking up. She narrowed her eyes at me before looking over at Deidara.

"Again? Why did you knock me out this time?" she croaked before clearing her throat.

"Why would we want you to know where our hideout is?" Deidara spoke up.

"You got into another fight…" Sakura started as she looked at Deidara "Who with?" hope started to fill her face.

"We didn't. We had a short sparring session before leaving the checkpoint." I answered. Any hope that tensed her face up had left the instant I had said that.

Sakura propped herself to look over at Itachi. What is her deal with him? She was burning the back of his head with her glare.

"You can put me down. I've already been blackmailed to do as you wish…for now." She hissed. Itachi ignored her as we walked into the hideout.

"Who the fuck is that?" Hidan yelled as he happened to walk past. Itachi set her on the ground. Hidan walked up to her as she was trying to balance herself. "You've got pink hair." He stated obviously while reaching out to touch her hair.

She slapped his hand out of the way, nearly hitting Itachi.

"No shit Sherlock." Sakura retorted before taking a few steps back. She brushed herself down before glaring at Itachi. My curiosity couldn't wait any longer.

"What's your deal with Itachi? Do you guys know each other or something?" I questioned, keeping a fixed look on Sakura. She shook her head slightly.

"It doesn't matter." She responded. Itachi walked off, Sakura following close behind.

I looked over and exchanged looks with Deidara.

"Women." Deidara spoke, I scoffed before following Itachi. Before we could reach Pein, he walked around the corner with Kakuzu by his side.

"We're moving to the mist." He informed before noticing Sakura. "Why is there a leaf kunoichi here?" he questioned, his expression of slight confusion amused me.

"She studied Medical jutsu under Legendary Sanin Tsunade, she's created a complex barrier around the item we need. Only she or Tsunade can remove the barrier." Itachi informed. Pein narrowed his eyes at Sakura before turning around.

"Fine, Hidan. Hurry up." Pein spoke, Hidan rubbed the back of his hand before following Pein out of the hideout.

[ _Sakura_ ]

I stood still. I tried to think of a way to leave a mark of my own in the building before we left. Kisame walked past me to stand next to Itachi.

"Deidara, partner up with Sakura." Itachi demanded. "Get her to change clothes before leaving this hideout." He finished as he left the hideout, Kisame close behind.

I crossed my arms before facing Deidara.

"So," I attempted to speak, however Deidara grabbed my arm and lead me to a room that was filled with blues and whites.

"Find something to dress into and get changed…quickly." Deidara ordered. I glanced at him quickly before entering a walk-in cupboard.

I rushed to find something that I'd want to wear…

I came across a short pair of black shorts, thigh length fishnet tights, long bright velvet knee length boots, fish netted gloves and an oversized grey hoodie. I rushed to get changed, I removed everything other than my top and underwear before rushing to get all the new clothes on. I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned…I decided that I wanted to tie my hair up in pigtails, so I found a brush and started to brush the tangled knots out of my hair before tying my hair up into two high pigtails that reached just past my shoulders. I then removed my headband and wore it in front of my forehead, rather than on top of my head like a hairband.

I carefully placed the brush down on a clear space in hopes that someone who knows me will find it and see the hair that was brushed into the bristles.

"Let's go." Deidara said as soon as I walked out of the walk-in cupboard. I wonder if he looked while I was changing.

I reluctantly nodded and followed him outside of the hideout.

Everything about this feels so wrong…I'm willingly following a criminal…but I'm only doing that because I'm being blackmailed…I don't want to be here…although I know that being here would benefit our knowledge on the Akatsuki greatly.

Before I could think about anything else. Deidara somehow managed to produce a huge white bird. He jumped on it and waited for me to jump on too.

I hesitantly copied him and his bird started speeding off in the sky.

I kept quiet through the journey. Although I could see something that caught my eye…it was Zabuza's sword, overlooking the hidden mist village…

I kept my eyes locked onto the sword before I noticed a few people in the distance walking in the direction of the sword.

"What are you looking at?" Deidara asked me, making me jump.

"Nothing." I stated before looking back at the sword. I sighed deeply before reluctantly averting my eyes. Deidara made his bird move the direction it was originally heading in to land on the ground near Zabuza's sword.

I felt confused as to why he would do this, however I just accepted it.

I hopped off the bird and took a closer look at the sword.

"This…this is so surreal." I said out loud with half a smile on my face. I heard Deidara hop off the bird and walk to my side.

"What is this?" He questioned as I reached my hand out to rest my hand on the hilt of the sword.

"This was placed here is when Zabuza died…" I continued.

"Who was Zabuza to you?" Before I could answer his question, I looked over my shoulder to see four people walk onto the scene. I slowly gripped the handle of the sword before I turned my body around.

"Get away from my weapon!" a short blue haired man spoke. He wore a purple tank top and grey trousers. I couldn't get a good look at the three people who stood with him. Although I was certain that one of the people with him was a girl.

"You think I'm stupid? This weapon belongs to Zabuza." I answered plainly, staring blankly into his eyes. I examined his body and let out a small laugh. "I doubt you'd be able to hold it anyway, you're as scrawny as a twig."

The man narrowed his eyes at me before running in my direction.

I decided that I would borrow Zabuza's sword. I easily lifted the sword from the ground before I went to strike the man running towards me.

He dodged my attack and fell back in line with the other three shinobi.

I tried squinting my eyes slightly to get a better look at the other people, but attempts were futile.

One of the people had muttered something to the rest and raised their hand before three of the members had retreated? What's this person's game? I turned around to put Zabuza's sword back in its' original place.

"Sakura." He spoke. My heart dropped. That voice couldn't belong to Sasuke could it? I turned around and saw Sasuke.

"Sasuke." I breathed out more than I spoke. He looked a lot different to when I saw him last…He wasn't in the outfit that we wore when Naruto, Sai and I found him.

"What are you doing with Akatsuki?" he questioned as he stopped walking a few metres ahead of me. I hesitantly looked over at Deidara before looking back at Sasuke.

"I have something they-" I started before I felt my body suddenly go heavy. I was losing my consciousness.

[ _Deidara_ ]

I had to knock Sakura out to stop her from speaking out.

"Surely, I would have enjoyed watching that cute little...reunion?" I suggested before picking up Sakura's limp body in a bridal style. "But I have better things to do."

"You've kidnapped her." Sasuke spoke as I jumped onto my creature. "Why?" He questioned as my bird started to get ready to fly.

"None of your business, Uchiha." I responded before My creature sped off in the direction of the hideout. I was confident that the Uchiha wasn't following me. I placed Sakura's body down on the back of my creature for the remainder of the journey.

"You're late." Itachi said the instant my bird landed on the ground. I picked Sakura up before jumping off the bird and dismissing it.

"We happened to run into your brother." I scoffed while walking past him. "It seems that he and Sakura have some sort of past together."

"Hn." He grunted as he followed me into the mist hideout.

"Why has she been knocked out again?" Kisame questioned as we reached the lounging area of the hideout. I placed Sakura's body on the sofa before turning to Kisame.

"She was about to tell Sasuke why we took her. We can't risk anyone else knowing about the herb." I answered while heading to a different sofa. Kisame and Itachi took a seat next to me.

Konan walked into the room and stood still as she looked over at Sakura.

"Who is she?" Konan questioned as she narrowed her eyes at Sakura.

"A medic ninja who will help us use the herb Sasori told us about correctly." Kisame answered. Konan scoffed before leaving room.

"Do I sense jealousy?" I chuckled as Hidan and Kakuzu entered the room.

"Oh, she's been knocked out." Kakuzu stated before sitting on a different sofa with Hidan.

"What is our plan of action, Pein?" Itachi asked. I looked at Itachi before following his line of sight to see Pein standing in a doorway.

"Just, treat her like normal without giving too much of your personality away. We only need her to help us obtain immortality…If she messes up, even the slightest bit, the herbs will be useless." He replied. "But as soon as we have what we need. Eliminate her." He finished before he walked in the direction Konan left.

That sounds easy enough.


	8. Chapter 8

[ _Jiraiya_ ]

We just reached a barrier of some sort after running for some time. Predictably, Naruto tried to pass it only to end up failing miserably.

"Ugh! This is annoying!" He complained. He started to pace around the area.

"There is nothing we can do right now…" Shikamaru spoke, I looked over at him and nodded.

"What do you mean-" Naruto started to shout.

"The Akatsuki could be anywhere by now…There's no telling what kind of barrier this is…" I interjected. Naruto clenched his fists before punching in front of him.

"Argh!" He shouted as the barrier created purple sparks as his fist met the barrier. "What do we do now?!"

Wind blew past, almost carrying the heavy silence that invaded my ears.

"I suggest we head back to the leaf village and wait until Kakashi comes around. We should find out if he has any ideas. Once he's able, we can use his tracking dogs to-" Shikamaru started.

"That will take too long! What if they kill her?!" Naruto interrupted, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence.

I let out a long sigh before rubbing my face with my hand.

"Naruto," I started before placing my free hand on his shoulder. "She will be fine. Sakura is a smart kunoichi…" I reassured him, not entirely believing my sentence myself.

"Yeah." Naruto grunted before shaking his shoulder free of my grasp. I returned both my hands by my sides before leading the three back to Yamato.

"We've got good news and bad news." Yamato didn't hesitate to speak as I looked down at Temari's battered body.

"Hit me." I said as a force of habit.

"Good news is; a significant amount of Deidara's blood was left on Temari's forehead, one of Kakashi's hounds will be able to track him, no matter how far away he is." I smiled slightly at the good news before glancing over at Naruto.

"And the bad news?"

"Temari is in a critical condition. Her body is starting to shut down. She's bleeding out and if she doesn't get to a hospital in five minutes, she will die."

I heard Shikamaru inhale air greedily.

"Konoha is twenty minutes away…" He stated, wretchedness dripping from his tone. He walked to Temari's unconscious body and placed his hand on her shoulder. Yamato and I exchanged concerned looks before I noticed a new Chakra signature head in our direction.

"Someone is heading towards us." I informed everyone as I turned around to be met with two familiar faces.

"There you are! I said to wait until Choji and I finished our convers-!" An angry looking Ino started shouting. She noticed Temari and stopped herself from speaking. "Out of the way!" Ino ordered. Yamato moved out of Ino's way swiftly. Shikamaru stayed where he was. "What happened?" Ino asked as she hovered her hand over Temari's heart, her hand shaking slightly. A soft green glow started forming around her hand.

I almost forgot that she studied Medical jutsu alongside Sakura. From what Tsunade told me, Ino gave up when they were asked to resurrect a recently killed bird. From that point onwards, Sakura and Ino had a routine going on every week where Sakura would share her knowledge on medical jutsu with Ino on a basic level.

"I don't know what happened to her regarding the burns…but I saw Temari get stabbed with a razor-sharp sword…with spiky teeth on it." Shikamaru informed Ino as much as he could.

There were a few moments of silence where Ino had moved her hand up and down Temari before stopping at the gaping wound on her right side.

"This here," Ino started as she placed her two hands over Temari's wound. "If I can clot the blood here, it can act like a layer of skin and it may help her hang on to life longer." Ino finished, sounding quite unsure of what she was saying.

We all stood in silence while waiting for any movements from Temari. Shikamaru kept his sight locked onto Temari's eyes.

Suddenly Temari's eyes started to flit behind her closed eyelids and her body flinched. Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief.

"Will she be okay?" Naruto asked, messing up Ino's focus. She signalled for Shikamaru to hold Temari.

"We'll need to get her to a specialist within the next half an hour…They'll be the only kind of medics who will be able to help Temari's condition stabilize." Ino responded.

"We'll all head back for now." Yamato stated as he placed a white handkerchief with blood in his pocket. He chucked Kakashi over his shoulder before heading off in the direction of the leaf village.

I waited for everyone to follow Yamato before leaving, although Naruto was the only person who stood still.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, trying to tilt my body to get a closer look at his face.

"This was all pointless. We didn't get Sakura back…" He complained. I frowned at him before crossing my arms.

"Be that as it may, we managed to collect Deidara's DNA. And that isn't pointless. We'll be able to find Sakura when Kakashi comes to." I stated. Naruto looked at me before easing his facial expressions.

"It's just annoying…" He muttered before darting off in the direction of the hidden leaf Village

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review to help me improve the story_


	9. Chapter 9

[ _Itachi_ ]

I kept my eyes on Sakura's body as everyone spoke amongst each other. I have a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when I look at her. I don't quite understand why she holds a grudge against me…Thoughts of Sasuke cross my mind from what Deidara said previously. My brain links the two together as I remember that Sasuke and Sakura used to be part of a team…with Naruto. I wonder how much she knows about my past.

Sakura's body flinched slightly as she regained consciousness. I smirked slightly as her chakra flared very softly. No one else in the room noticed Sakura wake as they were too busy talking with each other.

Her left eye peeked a look at her direct surroundings before she closed it again. How sneaky does she think she is right now? I decided that I wanted to be entertained. I quietly got up from my seat and knelt in front of her and waited for her to open her other eye. The opportunity never came but I could sense her Chakra stirring in preparation to attack, so before she could do this I decided I would speak.

"Don't even try it." my voice cut through the air, making Sakura jump. She opened her eyes in defeat and jumped again before sitting up straight.

"Fuck." She involuntarily spoke as I took a seat next to her. The conversation everyone was having died down quickly, all focus was on Sakura.

"So, Pinkhead." Hidan started as he leaned forwards and rested his arm on his knee. "You gonna apologise for hitting me earlier?"

"No way in hell. That was barely a tap you freakin' pansy." She responded instantly. Deidara let out a chuckle.

"You dare talk down to me?!" Hidan raised his voice. Sakura crossed her arms and rested back into the sofa.

"I don't feel like you're any threat to me. You're about as intimidating as a korma curry." She retorted as I felt her chakra stir.

"You think? I'm immortal, bitch, try m-" Hidan said as he stood up, his scythe ready to strike.

Sakura swiftly got to her feet and walked up to him.

It was a comical sight to see, a 5-foot odd kunoichi looking up at a 6-foot immortal criminal.

"You sure I can try you?" Sakura muttered while turning the right side of her body back. She reared her right arm slowly and kept her left hand covering her other hand as she balled it into a fist.

Hidan was about to make a sarcastic comment as he bent down to her height and opened his mouth to speak. Before any air could escape his mouth, Sakura had, in a very short space of time, exerted an extraordinary amount of Chakra in her fist and punched Hidan right in his eye, causing his body to fly past Kakuzu and smash through one of the walls.

If Hidan wasn't immortal, his brain would have hit the back of his skull with such force, he would be dead.

"OW!" Hidan grumbled while rubbing his head. "Bitch…"

"Ah shit…did you get hurt?" Sakura asked rhetorically before walking up to the sofa and sitting down.

"She got a pretty good hit on you Hidan. You're going to have to be quicker next time." Deidara spoke up.

"I gave her that hit…" Hidan muttered as he walked back to the group, his eye slowly showing a fresh bruise.

"Anyway," Kisame said before walking to the wine rack. "Let's get wasted."

I shot him a puzzling look as he brought back 5 regular bottles of spirits over and 1 smaller bottle of contaminated alcohol with him.

"Yeah! And whoever doesn't drink their bottles has to…" Hidan started as he looked around to find a punishment of some form.

"Cook our meals for the month." Deidara finished. Kisame handed Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu the normal bottles of Spirits before setting his own aside. Kisame handed me the contaminated bottle before holding the last one out to Sakura.

"Pfft, I'm not stupid." Sakura scoffed as she snatched the bottle from my hand. "Itachi can have that one." She finished. I refrained from smirking at her stupidity while I received the bottle from Kisame.

Everyone opened their bottles and waited for Kisame to start talking.

"So, I'll say now. If you down the bottle in less than 20 seconds you're in for the next round. If you fail-" He started as Sakura started to drink from her bottle.

Well, that was an understatement, she was practically inhaling the stuff. She polished the bottle within 5 seconds.

"Easy…Plus this just tastes like a cocktail…" Sakura muttered, I glanced at Kisame and raised an eyebrow. He looked somewhat concerned as he took a quick swig from his bottle.

"That's the strong stuff." He said, more to inform me than to respond to Sakura.

"Really? You must all be drinking water then." She retorted instantly while dropping her bottle on the floor.

"Okay, scrap the game then…I guess." Deidara said as he leaned back in the chair.

I felt Sakura's chakra change gradually. She instantly became incredibly relaxed and she let her guard down. I could see her fighting to gain control of herself as conversation filled the room.

The room started to grow louder the more everyone drank, I decided that I wouldn't drink, so Kisame took my bottle and started drinking from it.

"So, Sa-ku-ra?" Deidara asked, leaning forwards and resting his arms on his legs. Sakura lazily looked in his direction.

"What?" she responded, attempting to adopt a stern tone.

"Why don't you disable the barrier around your pouch? You said that you'd give us something from there." Deidara questioned.

"Yeah right!" Sakura snorted. "You will kill me if I do that!"

Deidara frowned.

"We could disable the barrier ourselves, we can kill you now if we wanted to."

"Again, yeah right!" Sakura laughed as she struggled to sit forwards. "The only person who can disable the barrier is me. Idiot. Do you know anything about blood bonding barriers? Freaking…douche. Are you even qualified to be a member of the Akatsuki?" Sakura bored on as the pitch of her voice became irregular.

"I don't specialise in being a chicken." Deidara childishly replied. Sakura raised an eyebrow before turning to look at me. It's almost as if she didn't notice me until now. Her emerald eyes narrowed.

"How the hell can someone like you live with yourself?" She started, turning her body to face me as she lifted her legs onto the sofa.

"Please elaborate." I challenged. Sakura inched closer to me.

"You murdered your whole clan…You made Sasuke's heart be filled with nothing but hatred." She whispered. I raised my eyebrow and smirked.

"Why are you so bothered? Your existence means nothing to the Uchiha clan." I replied. Sakura's face turned sour. "Sasuke wouldn't focus on petty things like relationships. I doubt your feelings for him are reciprocated."

Sakura's face suddenly softened as her cheeks started to go red.

"Sakura likes Sasuke? Fucking Uchiha's are nothing special you know Sakura. You should look elsewhere if you want a genuine partnership. Uchiha's tend to be nothing but selfish." Deidara grumbled.

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted. The room became deafeningly quiet. "I don't like Sasuke like that…" Sakura lied while resting the side of her head on the sofa.

Nothing interesting happened from that point onwards. Sakura started to get drowsy.

"I'm taking her to the spare room." I stated as I hooked my arms under her body. I could feel that she disagreed with my actions, nevertheless she accepted what was going on.

"Oooh! Don't do anything naughty in there…" Deidara teased. I turned my head to glare at him. Although rather than making him regret speaking he laughed. I sighed before leaving the room.

"Don't think this means I forgive you…" Sakura muttered into my chest and she nuzzled into me.

"There's nothing I have done that warrants your forgiveness." I responded. I swiftly reached the spare room before dumping Sakura's body on the bed.

"Why are you Uchiha's so _cold_?" Sakura spoke out as soon as I turned my back on her. I started to walk out of the room. There's nothing she can provide the Akatsuki whist she is in this pitiful state. "I know that you're becoming blind." She suddenly said. I stopped walking and turned to face Sakura.

"My vision doesn't-" I started.

"Be quiet." She snapped. I started walking towards her slowly.

"I don't think-" I started to warn Sakura as she stood up from the bed.

"Shut up, I don't care-"

I took Sakura by the neck and pinned her to the bed.

"Just because my eyesight is slightly damaged, doesn't mean I can't see your weakness." I stated. Fear consumed Sakura's face as I used my free hand to stroke her cheek. She completely froze. I moved my right hand from her neck to her hand and lowered my head closer to her.

"D-don't come any closer," Sakura stuttered, her face growing redder by the second. I smirked before my impulses took over my rational mind.

My face naturally inched closer to hers, I could feel her breath against my chin as I stared into her eyes.

The next thing I know I feel her plump lips against my own. Tasting the cherry flavoured lip balm she must have used, I pulled her bottom lip into my mouth and bit into it softly.

I reluctantly pulled myself away from her and released her from my grasp. I rushed to leave the room…what the hell did I do that for.

* * *

 _A/N: I haven't proof read this chapter yet! sorry for any mistakes! and thank you for reading_


	10. Chapter 10

[ _Sakura_ ]

I regain my consciousness, although this time I could tell that I wasn't knocked out by any other means than my own. I cussed myself for my stupidity as I raised my body from the bed. A shooting pain entered my head, I winced before looking around the room…I guess this is my room temporarily.

I notice a door that's slightly open. I can hear distant shouts. My head pounds as I stand to close the door.

"You'll not be left alone." A deep voice spoke, I poked my head out of the door to see Itachi leaning against the wall.

"Why don't you come in then?" I asked sarcastically. Itachi smirked and walked into the room as I moved out the way.

"I'll take you up on that offer." He responded. I closed the door abruptly behind him before walking over to a desk on the opposite side of where Itachi decided to sit.

I kept my guard up while taking my pouch off my side and setting it on the desk.

"The quicker I research this damned herb the quicker I can leave this damned place." I muttered out loud as I temporarily disabled the barrier around the pouch while removing the vial and an additional blank scroll. I was planning on secretly storing some of the finished product in the scroll and bring it back to the village with me when this was all over.

I pulled out a quill and some ink before activating the barrier around the pouch again.

"Do you know the properties of this herb, before I find out myself?" I questioned as I started to write in the blank scroll.

"Some sort of healing aid." Itachi responded. I refrained myself from sighing as I removed a single leaf from the vial.

I carefully cut a small strand from the middle of the leaf before lying it on the scroll. I used a small amount of chakra to preserve the properties of the herb while also inserting it into the scroll as a very clear diagram of the herbs structure. The structure definitely showed that this herb was one that aided the healing process…But I was unsure of just how strong it is.

I played around with different methods until I forgot that Itachi was even in the room. I noted down anything of significance before figuring out that the herb is most likely one that is best ingested by brewing it in hot water. From the amount I've gathered, there will be enough herbs for 20 portions…But I'll have to see what kind of healing aid it provides the user…I drew a collecting seal and stored half of the herbs within it. I turned around to be reminded of Itachi's presence. I coughed away the awkwardness I felt.

"Can I ask a favour of you?" I started, Itachi didn't so much as raise an eyebrow in response. "Can you get me hot water?" I continued. Itachi stood up before heading in my direction. I rushed to close the scroll I wrote in and stuffed it in the pouch as I deactivated the barrier around the pouch momentarily.

"I can accompany you while you collect the water yourself." Itachi bored, stopping a few feet away from me. I stared him up and down before returning the rest of the herbs to the vial. It's impossible to tell what he is thinking…I reattached the pouch to my side as Itachi led me to a small area that resembled a kitchen.

"Is the water clean?" I asked while picking up the kettle and examining its interior. Unlike the rusting exterior, the interior was squeaky clean.

"Yes." Itachi responded. I hurried to fill the kettle with water. I closed the lid and tried to turn the oven tops on. The gas was clearly working as I heard air escape from underneath the hob, but no matter how many times I clicked the spark button, it wasn't enough to light the gas up.

"A little help, please?" I asked, knowing that Itachi has a natural ability when it comes to the fire element. Itachi chuckled before performing a simple, and weak, fire ball jutsu to light the hob up.

I placed the kettle on top of the black skeleton support that rested onto of the cooker. I awkwardly turned around and walked over to the counter to sit on the side.

"You know about my vision." Itachi spoke after a few minutes. I nodded silently and slowly. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "How?"

"I get bored from time to time when I'm undergoing simple tasks. Call me a criminal, but I make a habit of 'coming across' important, forbidden fact files in Tsunade's archives…" The words rolled off my tongue easier than I expected them to. "Plus, when Kakashi-Sensei uses his Sharingan…he can't use it too often otherwise it has a horrible consequence to his vision. Usually when he overworks his Sharingan, he has to take a two-day break." I continued. I looked over at the kettle before looking at the vial of herbs in my hand. "The fact you're constantly using your Sharingan makes me believe you're practically blind." Itachi shuffled uncomfortably in his place.

"Can these herbs…" _Help your eyesight?_ I said the rest of the sentence in my head. Itachi stated to look around the room. I was about to question his actions before he closed the door to the room we were in. The shouting of the Akatsuki members died down significantly as Itachi created a sound barrier.

"I have a proposition for you, Haruno." He spoke. Taken back by his change in personality I straightened my back to show him that I was listening. "I will spare your life, help you escape this hideout. If, you help my eyesight return to normal." He stated, walking to stand directly in front of me.

Even though I was sitting on the counter, Itachi had to look down to meet my eyes. I considered what he said for a moment.

"How do I know you won't kill me as soon as I restore your eyesight? You seem to be an able fighter without your full vision." I questioned. Itachi's face inched closer to mine. My heart raced in anticipation.

"You have my word." He spoke. My expression hardened as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What good does your word-" I spoke as Itachi's lips hovered dangerously over my own. I froze in place in uncertainty.

"You have my word, Sakura." He repeated, his lips softly brushing against mine as he spoke, only this time addressing me by my name.

Something in my body was telling me to trust what he was saying…Whether it was just a feeling or the fact that Itachi reminded me of Sasuke, I slowly moved back in hopes Itachi would remain in place.

He followed my body before using his left hand to stroke down my arm. Before he could each my hand I snapped out of the daydream I was in.

"Fine, I hope you mean it." I agreed. Itachi smiled before moving out of my way, I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. Why did this man cause me to feel so flustered?!

The kettle finished boiling as the whistle sounded. I hopped down from the side before collecting a strainer from a draw and a cup from the cupboard. I poured a portion of boiling water in the cup before signalling Itachi to open the door for me.

Itachi didn't hesitate to open the door before he leads me back to the room. He closed the door behind him. I took a seat back at the desk before removing a small amount of the herbs. I stowed the rest of the herbs away in my pouch as I disabled the barrier momentarily.

I placed the herbs in the strainer before dipping it in the boiling water. To my surprise, the herbs immediately dissolved in the water, decorating the water with red streaks. I pulled out the strainer and took a closer look at it. There were no signs that the herbs were ever in this strainer. I shook my head slightly and rubbed my face.

"Okay," I started as the red spread through the water evenly, without my help. "The fact this herb has dissolved pretty much the second it touched the water, means that the properties are strong…This could help with your eyes…There will probably be more benefits too…" I muttered on while handing Itachi the small cup. "Give it 5 minutes before you start drinking from it, the water is hot." I warned.

Itachi merely looked at me briefly before he guzzled down the herbal tea like it was nothing. I sighed while returning to pack the rest of the equipment away. The room filled with a genuine and soft laugh. I hesitantly turned around to face him. There was an uncomfortable silence that invaded my ears…did the other members go to bed or something?

"Are you okay?" I asked out of habit rather than concern. He dropped the cup on the floor, causing it to shatter. My heart skipped a beat as I walked over to him. "Itachi?" I questioned.

It took a while, but he met my eyes with his own. The expression in his face softening.

"It worked." He stated, his eyes searching my face…not sure what for though.

"I held up my promise then." I said as I took a step away from Itachi. Before I continued my sentence Itachi removed a kunai from his sleeve. I narrowed my eyes before tensing my body in preparation to fight.

Itachi suddenly sliced through his own wrist. His hand hung, lifeless, as blood oozed out of his exposed wrist.

I gagged. What a horrible thing to do! Before I could hysterically question why he did that, his hand moved up on it's own and his skin seemed to move around to help his muscles and tendons reconnect at quite a fast pace.

It took me a while to snap out of my shock.

"Immortality…" I whispered to myself as Itachi stood up.

"Now, I know we struck a deal," Itachi started before walking towards me, cornering me as I reached the door. "Although I am not the one to make decisions on your fate."

I pumped chakra into my legs and arms, ready to attack Itachi, but the door behind me flung open with such a force that I bumped into Itachi and we both fell on the ground, I landed on his chest. Itachi's body was so warm…I blinked a few times before a familiar voice shook me back to reality.

"Are you that desperate to get into the clan that you'd try it on with my brother?" I stood up quickly before spinning on the spot to come face to face with Sasuke.

"What?" Was all I could muster as I noticed the rest of his team behind him. The guy I met previously was there, arrogantly resting on Zabuza's sword. There stood a tall man with light ginger hair looking down at me in a calm way. I looked to his right and saw a short red headed female. These must've been the three people that were with Sasuke.

"What have you done with everyone?" Itachi questioned, I didn't even notice him stand up. Sasuke smirked before crossing his arms.

"I didn't do a thing. They're too intoxicated to move." He answered before glaring at Itachi. "Now that you're alone and out-numbered. I want to know personally why you have this one." He questioned impersonally. I frowned at his choice of words. The atmosphere was heavy.

"No reason." Itachi responded. I saw a very small opportunity to escape and I took it. I sped past Sasuke and pushed a significant amount of force from my shoulder as I used the Blue haired man in the doorway as a cushion to help me turn the corner sharply.

I didn't want to look behind me as I rushed to the exit of the building, this day was becoming more and more bizarre...

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

[ _Shikamaru_ ]

We'd reached the villages hospital within minutes. I've never ran faster in my entire life. Tsunade was already in the room as I entered with Temari's body.

Shizune wanted to take Temari from me but I kept a firm hold on her, I didn't want to give her away. What the hell is happening to me? I can't control my body like I want to. Shizune said something to me, however I didn't care to listen to what she was saying.

I looked down at Temari, her temperature lowering considerably fast. Blood starting to emerge from her wound again.

Tsunade pulled Shizune back before hovering a hand over Temari's body. My concentration was solely on Temari's face. She looked lifeless and pale.

"-kamaru," A soft voice spoke as I felt hands on my shoulders. I wanted to help Temari out, however I didn't want to give her away.

I saw Tsunade nod in the corner of my eye.

I suddenly blanked out for a few seconds, but when I came around Temari was no longer in my arms. Sound started to gradually fade in as I frantically looked around for her.

"Shikamaru!" I heard Choji's voice, I turned around to see him supporting a limp Ino. She must have used her mind transfer jutsu quickly to allow Tsunade to take Temari from me.

I rubbed my face as I looked back at Temari, who was laying still on a hospital bed. Shizune pulled out a seat as Choji picked up Ino's body. He sat Ino down in the chair.

"She will be okay, Shikamaru." Tsunade spoke, snapping my attention to her. She looked confident while she moved her hands around Temari. Differentiating her professional skills from Ino's basic understanding as I could see the burns on Temari's arm and leg start to heal over.

Shizune was frantically cleaning Temari as Tsunade worked on her. All I could do was stand there as the two women helped Temari stabilise.

…

Two hours passed and it looked like Tsunade was finished with Temari's treatment. Choji had left the room quite some time ago, with Shizune.

"Thank you." I spoke, my voice cracking at the lack of use. Tsunade smiled slightly as she turned her head to Ino.

"I did the easy bit, It's thanks to Ino's quick thinking that Temari was able to sustain life until she reached me." Tsunade said modestly.

I was aware that the jutsu's Tsunade used were advanced, way more advanced than what Ino was doing, however, I definitely need to thank Ino for keeping Temari alive.

An overwhelming feeling of bittersweet sadness overcame me as I looked down at Temari's, now peaceful, face.

"I'll leave you to it, I'll send someone in to collect you later on in the night."

Tsunade left the room, closing the door behind her. I couldn't help myself from crying a few tears of relief that this troublesome woman is now in a safe condition. I sat on the edge of Temari's bed, despite reading the 'Do not sit on patients' bed' over in my head earlier on.

I didn't realise just how strong my feelings had become for Temari, I'd spent so much time with her that I had formed a bond similar to a strong friendship with her…

"Troublesome woman…" I said out loud, stroking a piece of her hair behind her ear. I knew that Temari needed all the rest she could get…But I just wanted to wake her up and laugh with her. I wanted to hear her laughing again.

A sudden feeling tugged at my stomach. This couldn't be…I don't feel love for this woman do I? I tried to imagine a world without her for a moment... but after a while of thinking, I couldn't possibly think of what I would do without her.

I felt my face heat up before I sighed deeply.

"What a drag…"

"You should tell her how you feel." Ino's voice shattered the silence as I shot a look in her direction. "I really hate seeing Temari on the verge of being the one to express her feelings to you first. Y'know, girls feel a lot better when the guy expresses his feelings first." Ino continued as she adjusted herself in the seat.

"Expressing her feelings?" I spoke, watching her chest rise and fall.

"Normally I'd praise your intelligence, but when it comes to Ladies you're as clueless as they come!" Ino laughed, irritating me somewhat. I looked up at Ino, raising an eyebrow. "I know it may be hard for your lazy brain to understand, but its _soooooo_ obvious that Temari is infatuated over you." Ino continued.

I sighed again before looking down at Temari.

"I guess...you'd know more than I would." I agreed before inching my face closer to hers. "I just wish she'd wake-" As soon as I said this, Temari's eyes shot open. Her face dusted itself in a pink hue. I froze in place, in anticipation for Temari to make a move. Although the words Ino said just moments before floating to the front of my mind. With slight hesitation, I pressed my lips to hers. My hand automatically moved up to cup Temari's warm cheek. I looked straight into Temari's captivating eyes and my heart skipped a beat. I can't believe I've passed this feeling as nothing more than friendship.

Reluctantly I separated myself from her.

"I love you, Temari." Those words fell out of my mouth naturally. Temari looked like she was about to cry. "I'm so glad you're safe." I continued as I started to pull my head back. However, I was stopped from pulling away further than a few inches as she used her left arm to pull me down towards her. Her lips brushed against mine as she paused.

"You took your time." Her voice croaked before she kissed me.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! :) I hope you enjoyed and Please review!_


	12. Chapter 12

[Sakura]

My heart was racing so fast that I could barely breathe as I ran past the Akatsuki members who were passed out on the sofa. I daren't look behind myself in case someone was hot on my trail.

"Shiiiiit..." I sung quietly to myself as I tried to navigate my way through the hideout. However, no matter what hallway I walked down, I never seemed to reach the front door.

"Sakura." A deep male voice hummed from behind me. I slowed my pace down to briefly glance behind myself. Sasuke was effortlessly catching up to me.

 _'_ _Why didn't I take Lee up on his offer for speed enhancement training?!'_ I thought to myself as I quickly spun on the spot while rearing my fist back.

Sasuke was only a few steps away from me. I hurried to force my fist into the wall to my right but before I could make contact with the wall, Sasuke tackled me harshly to the ground. I involuntarily coughed as my back squarely hit the ground beneath me. Although, it only took me a few seconds to regain my composure. I moved my left fist to punch Sasuke but he merely pinned my arms down with his knees. I felt quite awkward as I looked up at his face.

"W-What do you want Sasuke..?" I questioned before he could speak.

"Why are you with the Akatsuki?" He responded, looking down at me with a mockingly cold stare. I can't believe Itachi made Sasuke this way.

"I don't know." I lied. What use is it telling Sasuke about the herb...He'll use me the same way Itachi did...

"Don't lie to me." Sasuke growled as he hovered his head towards my face. I nervously gulp while trying to think of a way out of my current position.

Before I could make up another excuse, an explosive tag attached to a kunai flew past Sasuke's head. I noticed that the tag was painted blue rather than red. That's a strong explosive. I struggled against Sasuke's hold but he swiftly stood up and threw me in the same direction as the explosive kunai landed.

"Urgh!" I grunted in panic as I frantically looked around for an item to substitute...but there was nothing.

 _'_ _I'm seriously going to die here...'_ I thought as the explosive tag was seconds away from exploding. I braced myself by closing my eyes as I neared the wall.

The explosion triggered with an enormous bang and the ground below shook and rumbled beneath me. I didn't feel any pain...not even the heat of a fire. I cautiously opened my eyes to see that Itachi had shielded me from the explosion...However his face and arms were completely deformed and burnt.

"Ew..." I cried slightly as I took in the view.

"Why in the hell would you sacrifice your life for this girl?!" Sasuke hysterically laughed. I paid no attention to him as I looked at Itachi in awe. The burns on his skin were rapidly healing...The herbs I have really do hold the key to immortality. I definitely would have died if that explosion so much as touched me.

"Why?" Itachi chuckled while standing up. "Don't misunderstand. I care not for her life." Itachi answered. I tried to stand up too but Itachi had forced one hand on my head. "I'm immortal now. Sasuke. You'll never get your revenge now that Sakura helped me gain an infinite life."

My eyes widened.

 _'_ _Sasuke is going to despise me! I don't want that!'_ my eyes met with Sasuke's own...And his expression was like none I had ever seen before. I really think that he hates me right now.

"What's all the fuss about?" Sasuke's comrade had entered the scene.

"We need to regroup and reform." Sasuke muttered darkly, venom dripping from his tone.

Within seconds Sasuke disappeared, along with his comrade.

"He...Sasuke." I muttered weakly. "Sasuke hates me and it's all your fault!" I lashed out at Itachi while trying to stand up. However, his hand kept me in place.

"You made Sasuke hate you the moment you got yourself caught." Itachi retorted before removing his hand from my head. "I don't like going back on my word...However, I don't want to disappoint Pein. So I'm only going to say this once." Itachi continued as he walked past me. "Left, left, right, forward left, through the door. Bird, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare. You have half an hour before the organisation find you and torture you to release the barrier you have on your pouch. The next time we met, you'll be dead and we will all be immortal...Good luck." Itachi finished while continuing to walk ahead. I stood up and spun around on the spot before darting to the left. It took a short while before I had to take another left. I headed right, forwards and left like Itachi had instructed before I went through the metal doors.

I was actually outside! I could see the great Naruto bridge. I could feel that there were multiple barriers surrounding the complex, so I rushed to perform the handsigns that Itachi told me to.

"bird, rat, ox, tiger, hare..." I quietly muttered habitually. I braced myself for a bit of pain as I passed the barrier. The pain never came.

I was filled with a feeling of joy as I sped towards the bridge that connected the land of waves to the land of fire.

"I better disguise myself...but as who..?" I muttered as a selection of Shinobi raced through my head. "I'll disguise myself as him...That way, I'll gain the leaf villages attention as quickly as possible, even if I'm a few miles out." I performed the disguising jutsu and swiftly transformed into Sasori's real body.

Half an hour later, I was halfway from the fire border to the village. There should be some ANBU Shinobi on patrol near the areas I pass. Although, I didn't seem to bump into anyone.

"Hey!" I shouted loud in panic, trying to grab someone's attention. I was scared for my life while heading closer towards the village.

I'm only fifteen minutes away...I need to make it back to the village.

"Hey you! Sasori of the red sand!" I turned my head to the noise and saw Jiraiya fast approaching me with a fierce rasengan spinning rapidly in his hand.

"Wait...Jiraiya!" I said while trying to deactivate the jutsu, but I couldn't move a muscle for some reason.

"You're not going anywhere!" Shikamaru stated. His shadow possession held me firmly in place.

"No...Wait! You're really gonna kill me if that hits!" My voice whimpered weakly as I tried my hardest to overcome Shikamaru's shadow possession.

Neither of the two men were listening to me.

"Rasengan!" Jiraiya shouted as he hit me with the jutsu. I shut my eyes as an excruciating pain entered my stomach, causing my jutsu to release itself, I started to collapse on the ground as Shikamaru released his jutsu.

"Sakura?!" Jiraiya looked mortified as he picked up my limp body. "Why...Why disguise..?" He stuttered as I shook my head.

"Just...Quick." I started before my whole body tensed at the prickling pain. "Hurry. Village. Now." I ordered bluntly. Jiraiya wasted no time as he darted towards the village. Shikamaru raced to Jiraiya's side and looked down at me.

"What in the world possessed you to disguise yourself as a member of the Akatsuki?" Shikamaru questioned. I tried to answer him but I was overcome by a coughing fit. I could taste blood and I could feel something thick dropping down from my nose and mouth. "Actually, don't talk..." Shikamaru stated.

I went to look down at my stomach and I could practically see a whole going through my body...I will definitely bleed out before I ever reached the village...I really don't want to become immortal. But I want to stay alive for longer.

"Ugh..." I panicked. "Boiled water?" I questioned while looking at Shikamaru. He looked down at me with confused eyes. "Please...Stop running. Find a safe place." I continued to say as I felt dizzy momentarily.

"Jiraiya, we'll head back to the cabin Yamato and Naruto are in. It's a few metres from here. Hurry." Shikamaru understood what I was trying to say...Or I hope he does.

"She needs a hospital."

"No...Naruto." I muttered. Jiraiya looked at me briefly before handing me to Shikamaru.

"I'm going ahead to report to Tsunade." Jiraiya said before speeding off. It took Shikamaru mere seconds to reach Yamato's cabin. I had to fight extremely hard for my consciousness as my pain turned into a welcoming numbing sensation.

"Boiled water, now!" Shikamaru spoke for me as I heard a few shuffles.

"S-Sakura?! What happened?" I heard Naruto's voice shout. Shikamaru swiftly, but delicately laid me down on the wooden floor.

"I'll tell you in a moment." Shikamaru answered.

"But Sakura-!" Naruto cried.

"What's next?" Shikamaru's stern face focused on my lips. He's so smart. To think he's assuming I'm not strong enough to produce a sound as I speak...

"My pouch. The herbs." I slowly spoke. Shikamaru removed my pouch tried to open it, however I heard a soft sizzling sound as the barrier gave him a small burn. I tried to raise my hand but I grunted as pain shot through my body.

"Naruto. Chakra. My hand..." I tried to speak further but my voice was fading.

"Lead her hand onto the pouch and lend her some of your chakra." Shikamaru spoke out for me. Naruto wasted no time to comply as I felt a jolt of energy hit my body.

"The water is boiled." Yamato stated. I didn't even notice him boil the water, I tried to focus on Yamato but my vision was slowly fading out.

"Sakura. The barrier." Shikamaru snapped my attention back onto him. I exerted a small amount of Chakra into the pouch and it opened automatically. Shikamaru rummaged around the pouch before lifting up a vial of herbs.

"This one?" He questioned. I weakly nodded before I painfully turned my head to Yamato.

"Herb...Water." My voice barely whispered. Shikamaru took the water from Yamato and I assume he put the herbs in as he lifted my body up with one of his arms and used his other hand to help me drink the medicine.

Within seconds I was greedily drinking the rest of the water without Shikamaru's help. Suddenly, a huge amount of energy hit my body. I was overwhelmed with feelings of pleasure as my vision returned to normal...in fact, it was like my vision had been enhanced.

"Whoa..." I stated shakily as all my senses unexpectedly felt enhanced. "How many leafs did you put in there, Shikamaru?" I questioned. Shikamaru's face slowly un-tensed as he looked from me to the vial. I looked down and noticed that it was empty.

"Oh no..." I stated as I looked down at my hands. My skin looked super smooth and it seemed to really glow. "That was 9 portions in there..."

"Sakura! Your stomach!" Naruto exclaimed as he intensely stared at my stomach. I looked down too and I saw that it was rapidly starting to heal.

"So it's true, the herbs you found really does hold the key to immortality." Yamato said. Silence invaded the cabin, surrounding the place with an eerie sensation.

I nodded before a sudden realisation hit me.

"Sai!" I said aloud as I stood steadily on my feet. "We...We need to get to him right now!" I darted out of the cabin. I felt no kind of effort as I raced through the forest. I can't believe I forgot about the pound of detonating clay inside him.

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 _A/N: I haven't double checked this chapter but I don't want to delay the update any longer :3 hope you enjoy!_


	13. Chapter 13

[Kakashi]

I opened my eyes and frowned at my condition immediately. I didn't seem to be all that injured...The only thing I could physically feel was fatigue.

I looked out of the window and saw that it was night time. The village was peaceful as a soft blanket of fog covered the grounds. I wonder if the others are still out searching for Sakura.

I frowned further before a sigh escaped my lips.

"Hey, Kakashi." Temari spoke as she opened the door to my room. I could tell that she has sustained quite a bit of damage as she was visibly wincing at the pain that occurred in her body as she walked.

"I apologise for not getting to you in time." I responded automatically. Temari sat down on the seat next to my bed before shaking her head.

"If you saw the hit that knocked you out, I don't think you'd be saying that." Temari laughed softly. My eyes crinkled as I noticed an unusually happy aura that surrounded her.

"Is Sakura back?" I asked hopefully. The small smile that Temari wore instantly formed into a frown.

"No...But Shikamaru, Naruto, Yamato and Jiraiya are still out searching for her."

As if on queue, Jiraiya had entered the room and stood next to Temari.

"It's good that you're awake, Kakashi." Jiraiya greeted while pulling up a seat. "I have good news...and bad news."

"Bad news first." I decided. Jiraiya looked at me with pain consuming his eyes before briefly looking away as he spoke.

"I attacked Sakura and she's in a very critical condition...she had a gaping hole through her body." Jiraiya's voice quavered as he spoke. My heart dropped.

"W-Where is she?" I questioned instantly. Jiraiya looked back in my direction.

"She's with Shikamaru, Naruto and Yamato...Her orders." Jiraiya spoke, filling my mind with confusion. Nevertheless, I wanted to know the good news.

"Why would you attack Sak-" Temari started as she glared at Jiraiya.

"Good news?" I interrupted, earning Temari's glare.

"We found Sakura?" Jiraiya offered. Just as I was about to scold him for a situation I didn't know fully, I saw a pink haired Kunoichi speed past the door to my room.

"Sakura!" I instinctively got out of the bed to follow her.

"Wait, You've not recovered fully!" Temari said, chasing after me. I didn't have to travel for long as I reached Sai's room. Sakura looked over Sai's body wildly and I could see her whole body tense. I didn't see any injury on Sakura whatsoever. There was no hole in her stomach. The only sign of injury she could have sustained had dried as red streaks on her face near her nose and mouth. Was Jiraiya lying?

"Sakura?" I spoke. Sakura looked over to me and widened her eyes like she suddenly got an idea.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Sai...Deidara said he placed his clay inside of Sai." Sakura informed. I nodded before walking over to Sai's side. He looked too damaged to have even the smallest amount of lightning pass through his body.

"He's too injured." I stated. Sakura gave me a dangerous look.

"I was threatened with Sai's life if I disobeyed the Akatsuki...I'm not with them now...They'll know that I've escaped." Sakura muttered darkly. I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to assess the situation for myself.

"Alright." I agreed reluctantly as I infused my hand with a small amount of my lightning jutsu. Just as I was about to touch Sai's chest, his hand raced up and grabbed a tight hold of my wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?" His voice cracked as he slowly opened his eyes. I released my jutsu to let him take in his surroundings. "S-Sakura?" Sai questioned as his eyes reached her.

"Don't you worry." I heard Tsunade's voice say. I turned around to face her after grabbing my arm away from Sai's grip. "I've already removed the detonation clay from Sai's system. I stored it away in a safe container...But I came straight here when it exploded."

I heard a thump from my left, so I looked over at Sakura. She fell to her knees.

"He really could have died." Sakura muttered to herself.

"But he didn't." Tsunade replied as she walked to Sakura. She held her hand out and help Sakura to her feet. "Come, I need to talk to you." Sakura nodded.

"Sai...Thank you for coming after me." Sakura said as she followed Tsunade out of the room.

Sai and I stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Sakura seems different." Sai finally spoke. I nodded.

"If the herbs Jiraiya and Tsunade spoke about actually exist..." I trailed off.

Before Sai could question me further, Naruto and Shikamaru entered the room alongside Temari and Yamato.

"Shikamaru." I stated, grabbing his attention. "What happened?"

"Well," Shikamaru started before rubbing the back of his head. "Jiraiya and I thought we encountered Sasori of the Red sand." I wanted to interrupt Shikamaru, but I patiently waited for him to finish his sentence. "It turned out that it was Sakura. I guess she wanted to grab our attention quickly or something. I held her in place as Jiraiya's rasengan took a direct hit to Sakura's stomach. She wouldn't have survived if we returned her to the hospital...She was bleeding out really heavily and we were fifteen minutes away from the village."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I took the information in.

"She barely managed to communicate to us that she wanted boiled water. So I took her back to the cabin where Yamato and Naruto were and uh..." Shikamaru nervously looked at Yamato. "I put all the herbs she collected into the boiled water like she asked...She healed faster than I've ever seen anyone heal. But she later told me that there were nine portions in that one vial I used. I did find it off how the herbs instantly dissolved into a deep red substance."

My eyes widened slightly as I looked from him to Yamato.

"So...the herb really does grant immortality?" I question gingerly. Yamato nodded. "What's going to happen to her? She took 9 portions of the stuff?"

"As with any other medicine, I can only assume the effects are just stronger..." Shikamaru spoke out loud.

"Well, In all due respect, given the condition Sakura was in I would have done the exact same as Shikamaru did." Yamato stated as if to reassure me.

"At least she's still alive. She may have intelligence on the Akatsuki too." I spoke. A wide grin spread across Naruto's face.

"We brought Sakura back!" He exclaimed. Shikamaru sighed deeply.

"Sakura brought herself back." Shikamaru corrected, although Naruto wasn't listening to him at all. "What a drag." He turned to face Temari. "You should still be in your bed."

Temari smiled at him sweetly before taking Shikamaru's arm. A light coat of pink coloured Shikamaru's face as he lead Temari out of the room.

I guess that's why Temari had a happy aura around her...They must have finally realised their love of each other...I wonder if I will ever find someone like that.

"I guess things turned out okay in the end...But does that mean all of the herbs Sakura collected have been used up?" Sai spoke up. I shrugged slightly while Yamato nodded.

"Sakura explained to us on our way back that those herbs in the vial were the last of them...Although she also told us that one other person has ingested the medicine."

My heart started beating irregularly. If she's given any member of the Akatsuki immortality...It would be devastating.

"Itachi." Yamato continued. My heart dropped yet again. Of all the people to have ingested that medicine.

"That's not good." Sai spoke.

The room filled with silence.

"What do we do now?" Naruto hesitantly broke the silence.

"Just continue on with missions to aid our village as usual. Nothing can be done. You should go to Tsunade's office, Naruto." Yamato advised. Naruto nodded before racing off to the Hokage tower.

"So I guess Sakura told you something else that you don't want Naruto to know." I analysed Yamatos previous action. He straightened his stance and sighed.

"Yeah..." He started before pulling up a chair next to Sai's bed. "Sakura also encountered Sasuke while she was with the Akatsuki. Sasuke had spot Sakura when she was visiting Zabuza's grave. She thinks she was followed when the Akatsuki knocked her out and took her to their hideout in the mist." I looked down for a moment while I reminisced the past.

"So is Sasuke aware of the herb that gives immortality?" I questioned as I looked back up to Yamato. He nodded. "This could be a pain. I assume that Sakura has a big red target on her head, both from the Akatsuki and from Sasuke." I stated out loud while running my hand through my hair.

Things are going to be utterly stressful from now on.

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 _A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed_


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